Karzai suspects U.S. is behind insurgent-style attacks

Afghan President Hamid Karzai suspects the United States is undermining his government.

KABUL — President Hamid Karzai frequently has lashed out at the U.S. military for causing civilian casualties in its raids. But behind the scenes, he has been building a far broader case against the Americans, suggesting they may have aided or conducted shadowy insurgent-style attacks to undermine his government, senior Afghan officials say.

Karzai has formalized his suspicions with a list of dozens of attacks that he believes the U.S. government may have been involved in, a palace official said.

The list even includes the recent bomb and gun assault on a Lebanese restaurant in Kabul, one of the bloodiest acts targeting the international community in Afghanistan, the official said.

The restaurant attack, which left 21 people dead, including three Americans, was almost universally attributed to the Taliban.

Karzai believes it was one of many incidents that may have been planned by Americans to weaken him and foment instability in Afghanistan, the senior palace official said.

He acknowledged that his government had no concrete evidence of U.S. involvement.

U.S. officials, who have been informed of some of the claims, have reacted with incredulity and anger to the idea that they're trying to debilitate Afghanistan's government, which they have supported with hundreds of billions of dollars.

“It's a deeply conspiratorial view that's divorced from reality,” U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham said Monday.

In a further sign of deteriorating relations with the U.S., the Afghan government has begun the process of releasing three dozen prisoners despite U.S. protests that they're dangerous, officials said Monday.

The U.S. military said the 37 prisoners slated for release are “dangerous insurgents who have Afghan blood on their hands.” The Pentagon cited strong evidence against them — from DNA linking them to roadside bombs to explosives residue on their clothing — but Karzai's government has rebuffed those claims.

As for Karzai's list, analysts say it helps explain why it has been so difficult to conclude a security agreement that would leave thousands of U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the formal end of American military operations this year.

Many U.S. and Afghan officials believe that accord is vital to this country's long-term stability, but Karzai has refrained from signing it.

U.S. officials and analysts offer a variety of theories for why Karzai has come to accuse his American counterparts of deeply insidious behavior.

Conscious of his legacy, he might be looking to raise his profile by confronting a superpower, some say. Or, in shifting suspicion for major attacks from the Taliban to the United States, he might try to endear himself to the insurgents in hopes of a reconciliation.